Chapter 257: Establishing the White Tiger Hall
Chapter 257: Establishing the White Tiger Hall
September 25, 2017
The truth behind this matter was now clear as day, and Lu HaiKong was certain that handling it would be a straightforward task.
Dealing with the true culprits would put an end to this incident, but Lu HaiKong never expected that problems would arise at this very moment.
Just as Lu HaiKong announced the release of the innocent farmer and the execution of the four true culprits, dissenting voices emerged from the group of newly joined refugees. Although these voices were not loud, they did make themselves heard, and Lu HaiKong was most sensitive to this.
The memory of the mountain stronghold's turmoil a few months ago was still fresh in everyone's minds, and the emergence of these dissenting voices at this time not only made Lu HaiKong cautious but also put the long-time residents of the stronghold on edge.
After a few months, the residents had come to deeply understand that only under Lu HaiKong's leadership would they have a brighter future. Therefore, when these voices appeared, all the older residents of the stronghold closely watched the scene, keeping a close eye on everyone who spoke out.
The residents' gazes were filled with anger and fear. If not for Lu HaiKong's presence at the beginning, these dissenters would have been torn apart by the residents long ago.
Lu HaiKong was well aware that some of these dissenting voices came from individuals with ulterior motives, and some might even be spies from the Aristocratic Clans. However, their identities were not as important as their intention to create conflict between the old and new residents through this incident.
When Lu HaiKong heard these voices, his expression darkened. At the very moment the voices arose, he decisively and swiftly executed the four culprits.
Witnessing Lu HaiKong's change in demeanor, the residents who had been living in the stronghold for some time immediately sided with him, separating the new group of refugees.
All the residents knew that Lu HaiKong despised anyone inciting emotions and opposing the stronghold's rule. However, to their surprise, Lu HaiKong did not act as he had a few months ago, raising the butcher's knife and unleashing a killing spree.
Lu HaiKong ordered the arrest of several obvious ringleaders, and then left without saying a word to the agitated refugees.
After leaving the stronghold's square, Lu HaiKong went straight to the Hall of Righteousness and summoned Xi ZhiCai and Wang Jun urgently. He even directly ordered them to halt their current work on opening up new lands.
Compared to the task of opening up new lands, Lu HaiKong was more concerned about maintaining stability within the stronghold. Today's events had shown him a worrying sign, but he was not too worried about the residents' sentiments. Given time, Lu HaiKong was confident he could calm them down.
However, the stronghold's security and legal issues were matters of great importance and urgency.
Addressing security was not difficult. Lu HaiKong could allocate a force from the second regiment and recruit some residents to form a security team quickly.
But the legal issue was more challenging. The difficulty did not lie in drafting the laws; in fact, they could copy the Great Han Dynasty's laws with minor modifications. The real challenge was the lack of legal experts in the stronghold, making it impossible to swiftly form a legal team.
After Xi ZhiCai and Wang Jun arrived, Lu HaiKong immediately recounted the day's events and shared his thoughts and requests.
Upon hearing this, Xi Zhicai and Wang Jun realized that Lu HaiKong had already set the tone, and their invitation was merely to task them with executing these two matters.
After the trio's discussion, the mountain camp swiftly sprang into action. The following day, they announced the establishment of the "Bai Hu Hall."
The Bai Hu Hall was essentially the mountain camp's version of a combined police station, court, and prison. It was responsible for maintaining law and order, as well as investigating and adjudicating cases. Initially, Lu HaiKong had considered using more official-sounding titles, but upon reflection, he decided that using such formal names for a mountain camp would seem out of place. In the end, Lu HaiKong settled on the name "Bai Hu Hall."
The Bai Hu Hall was divided into two parts: the Meng Hu Hall and Wei Hu Halls. The Meng Hu Hall was in charge of patrolling for security and apprehending criminals, while the Wei Hu Hall handled the investigation and judgment of complex cases. At this point, the Bai Hu Hall's authority was quite extensive, as it held the powers of arrest, trial, and judgment.
Such an institution would be rare in modern times and even more so during the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, Lu HaiKong had no choice; with limited personnel available in the mountain camp, forming the Bai Hu Hall was already a significant achievement. It would be asking for trouble to further divide the powers and create unnecessary complications.
Lu HaiKong, as the head of the Bai Hu Hall, hesitated for a long time before ultimately handing over the position to Xi Zhicai. Lu HaiKong knew he was underutilizing Xi Zhicai's talents, but he had no other choice given the limited personnel in the mountain camp. After careful consideration, Xi Zhicai was the only suitable person for the task.
Xi Zhicai readily accepted the responsibility without any objections. After Lu HaiKong's request, Xi Zhicai immediately took up the role and began drafting the mountain camp's legal code that very evening.
That same night, members of the Fire Word Regiment launched a large-scale operation, heading deep into the mountains to target the refugee camps.
(End of Chapter)
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